On January 12, the Gibson Southern Lady Titans hosted the Tecumseh Braves. The girls defeated Tecumseh 65-54, making them 15-3 on the season and 8-1 at home. Their one loss in the Titan Fieldhouse was to Reitz Memorial. 

The game against Tecumseh was also the Lady Titans’ annual Coaches vs. Cancer game, a fundraiser dedicated to raising cancer awareness. This year’s game was dedicated to a Gibson Southern alumna who played basketball for the school.

“She was recently diagnosed with cancer and has to travel several hours to treatments, and we are trying to relieve some of the burden of all those expenses,” said Kyle Brasher, Lady Titans basketball head coach. 

Most people are directly connected to someone affected by cancer or knows someone who has been. This is one reason the Lady Titan coaches work with this cause.

“Having our annual Coaches v. Cancer games are so important to ensure we are doing our small part to bring awareness to those who have been afflicted with cancer while providing money for those in need of the funds or to go towards cancer research,” Brasher said. “If everyone does their part, it can make a big difference.” 

The support of the alumna fighting cancer was huge, and the game that followed was a good one for the Lady Titans.

The girls led 16-12 at the end of the first quarter, staring the second in a 3-2 zone. 

“They were trying to do some pick and rolls to get mismatches with Gabby [Spink] and Chloey [Graham] guarding bigs inside, and with Gabby’s foul trouble, we were trying to hide her a little bit,” Brasher said. “They also aren’t known for their three-point shooting, so we were trying to make them shoot it from deep. But, they’re a disciplined team and weren’t going to do that.”

The Lady Titans extended their lead to 14 midway through the second. The Lady Braves cut that deficit to 33-27, with the Lady Titans leading at the end of the half.

“Anytime we come out and shoot the way we did really unites our team,” Brasher said. “Tecumseh did a really nice job balancing out their timeouts so kudos to them for that.”

The Titans struggled in the third, ending the quarter trailing by three. 

“We … [had to] play with some energy and with a sense of urgency, pick up the pressure a bit and get them to turn the ball over more,” Brasher said. “I think they executed that and did a great job in the fourth quarter, especially the last four minutes of the game.”

Late in the fourth quarter, Titans regained the lead with an old-fashioned three-point play. 

“When I hit my and one, it put us up by one in the fourth,” sophomore Gabby Spink said. “Not only was I hype, my team was hype, and the whole student section was hype.” 

The band led the team and the student section in the school song, and the Lady Titans won their tenth game in a row, bringing them to 8-1 in the conference.

“This was a big win because it helped determine who might win the conference because we are tied for the top spot,” junior Ally Malone said. “It was also big to come out and get a win in front of a very large crowd and show all of them what we can do and to win for all of those who are battling cancer or those we have lost due to cancer.” 

The Lady Titans will play this Saturday, January 14, at Washington with tip off at 1:30 p.m.